As millions of television viewers around the world watched Prince William marry Catherine Middleton in London on Friday, in Paris a small number of wellwishers remembered his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Before the ceremony someone lay a single pink rose under the Flame of Freedom statue at the Pont d'Alma underpass where she died in a car crash in August 1997, which has become an unofficial shrine in her memory.

"Dear Diana, thinking of you on this special day," read a handwritten note.

Nearby, a visitor who signed her name as Linda had left a poem on a laminated sheet of paper.

"Dear Diana," part of it read. "We know that up above your light is shining through. And that you'll be right beside them when they say 'Yes, I do'."

Prince William, who married Catherine in Westminster Abbey on Friday, was only 15 when his mother died in the Paris accident.

He made sure his mother, in his own words, did not "miss out" on the ceremony and celebrations for his wedding.

From the moment the couple announced they were getting married last November, Prince William has deliberately ensured that Diana's memory would not be forgotten, giving Catherine his mother's large blue oval sapphire and diamond engagement ring.

"It's very special to me," he told reporters in November. "It's my way of making sure my mother didn't miss out on today and the excitement and the fact we are going to spend the rest of our lives together."

The build-up to the day and the ceremony itself has been littered with reminders of Diana.

A hymn from his late mother's funeral was sung at the service and guests for the wedding included Elton John - who sang Candle in the Wind at Diana's funeral in the abbey.

Before the wedding, the couple were reported to have visited Diana's resting place, an island at her family's Althorp estate in central England.

At the British embassy near the Paris shrine there was a more celebratory mood, with hundreds of champagne-sipping guests making the most of a free buffet at British Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott's reception.

The ceremony was broadcast on large screens, and there were gasps of wonder at the bride's dress, amid Union Jack bunting and napkins.

Despite France's revolutionary past, the wedding was followed avidly in the country.

Three channels screened it live, and many of the ambassador's guests said they thought the British royals more interesting than their European cousins and other celebs.

"The marriage is part of our collective memory," said Isabelle Lejeune, 40, an events manager, adding that she thought Catherine's dress "very elegant".

"I feel like I'm watching a Disney film. A big event like this is global. This touches everyone," said her Italian colleague Alessandra Maglietta, 40, who found Catherine's dress "magnificent".

"People are less interested in Philip of Spain, for example. The British is the monarchy par excellence, after all. The other royals have modernised a bit but the British are still very traditional."

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